Ka Hunt
by Dark-Paladin-Duelist
Summary: Set after the Ceremonial Duel. When a girl with an active Ka appears at Yuugi's door one night, what will happen, with the people that are after her because of it?
1. Prey and Predator

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh in anyway, this fanfiction is in no way part of the official story, and never will be. The official characters used in this fanfiction belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

This story will deal with the Original Japanese version of the anime, and many things do differ from the dub. I will be using the translated card names (courtesy of www (dot) dmcomet (dot) net, so check up on there for cards that you're not sure about)

(Chapter 1)

7.46 PM. Ever since the Ceremonial Duel, Yuugi always offered to watch the shop in the evenings so his grandfather could rest. It gave him something to do, especially to keep his mind occupied. He had got over Atem moving onto the afterlife, but it was just that turn... If he had thrown it, Atem could've won and stayed with him.

Nothing had happened since then. After being in Memory World, Yuugi had learned Atem had others that cared about him, and that they were waiting for him. He and all of his friends would like to see Atem back, but they all knew it was impossible.

The door slammed open, making Yuugi look up from his deck. A girl was in the doorway. It had been raining and she was completely soaked. Her ginger hair was just under her shoulders and her bright blue eyes were looking straight at him. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a dark blue hooded jumper. She was panting heavily. "Motou...Yuugi...?" she asked weakly. He noticed she was holding a deck of Duel Monsters cards, but her grip on them wasn't very good, her hands were trembling.

Yuugi nodded as he got up. "What brought you all the way here? We're closing soon, and it's raining out" he asked.

Before the girl could answer, she fainted and collapsed to the floor, dropping her cards.

(An hour later...)

"I'm not sure, she collapsed before she could tell me" Yuugi told Jyonouchi. Yuugi had called everyone over to try and help the girl when she woke up.

Jyonouchi looked up from looking through the girl's deck. He gave a whistle. "I haven't even heard of most of these cards, and most of them sound really nasty. I wonder if someone was after her because of her cards?" he wondered.

"I don't think so. Sure she has rare cards, but I think it's something else. We have to wait to get some answers out of her" Yuugi replied.

Anzu walked into the room, Yuugi noticed "She's up guys, but she won't talk to the rest of us. She wants to talk to you Yuugi" she explained. Yuugi looked confused.

"Wonder why?" Yuugi asked out as he got up. They walked into the next room, the girl had her arms folded over her chest and was looking off to the side, away from Honda.

"Are you feeling okay?" Yuugi asked. The girl looked at him.

"I feel better than earlier" the girl answered.

"Why were you looking for me? I don't think you'd come out in the rain like this just to duel me" Yuugi questioned.

"I could wait to duel you Yuugi, but that's not it. I need to see your friend, the Pharaoh" the girl replied.

"I'm sorry, Atem already passed on a couple of months ago" Yuugi told her.

"Why do you want him?" Jyonouchi asked.

"I take it your friends know about the items and everything" the girl asked, Yuugi nodded. The girl sighed "I was hoping he could help me" she began. "When we had those monster sightings a few months ago, something awakened inside me. It all started around that time, I got myself a new card, and things haven't been the same since. I've felt like I have a connection with the monster. Ever since, whenever I'm in trouble, this monster appears and protects me. I'm not sure what's going on" the girl explained.

"I might know what's happening. This monster, if it does what you say it does, might just be your Ka, the monster connected to your soul" Yuugi answered.

"What monster is it?" Anzu questioned.

The girl picked up her cards, which Jyonouchi had put on the table beside her, then took a look through, and quickly found the card she was looking for. She picked it out of her deck, and showed it to everyone. "This one, Phoenix God of Nephthys" the girl answered. "Is everyone meant to have a Ka?" she asked.

"As far as I know, everyone on the planet has a Ka, but they haven't been able to be summoned in 3000 years. A way to release them could've been done with the Sennen Items, but they were lost when Atem passed on" Yuugi replied.

"So why is yours acting like this all of a sudden?" Jyonouchi questioned.

"If I knew that, do you think I'd have come here, with it raining like this?" the girl snapped at him.

"You said your Ka protects you whenever you're in trouble, what kind of trouble do you get into?" Anzu asked.

"As you probably know, many people's Ka are weak monsters. Since mine is different, and the fact that I'm somehow able to summon it, this group is after me, and want to extract it" the girl replied.

"How do they plan to extract it? I thought it could only be done with the Sennen Items" Anzu wondered.

"They've never got close enough to be able to do it, so I don't know" the girl answered.

"It is possible that whoever is after her had the Sennen Items dug up. I mean, It has been two months" Yuugi suggested, regretfully, he didn't want anyone else hurt because of the items.

"Yeah, but wouldn't they be useless now that Atem and Bakura have passed on?" Honda questioned.

"No. They were able to be used long before they were sealed into the Puzzle and Ring. I'm afraid that if someone found them, they'll be able to use them if they know how to work their magic" Yuugi answered.

(Elsewhere...)

Downtown, it was late at night, and two duelists were competing in a Yami no Game.

**Duelist 1's LP: 4000.** Field: One Card Face Down, Dragon Majin - King Dragoon (Attack) and Black Flame Dragon of Horus LV8 (Attack)

**Duelist 2's LP: 300. **Field: Gearfreid The Iron Knight (defense)

The first duelist had black hair, and green eyes. He was wearing a pair of leather pants, and a red jacket. "You done?" he asked.

His opponent was panting. He had never experienced any duel like this before. "I sacrifice my Iron Knight - Gearfreed using the magic card Restraint Removal! This lets me summon my Swordmaster - Naked Gearfreed!" he called. "Attack the King Dragoon!" he ordered. The Swordmaster leapt into the air, with his sword drawn, he was about to make contact with the monster's head.

"Trap Card Open! Curse of Darkness!" the mysterious duelist called, and the Swordmaster was binded and paralyzed by many chains. "What happened?" he questioned.

"I activated my trap, Curse of Darkness. It paralyzes your monster, and cuts his attack by 700" the first duelist answered. "Like I said, you tell me when she is, I might spare you" he added.

"Never..." his opponent replied, his eyes firmly on the mysterious duelist. "Turn End" he added.

"Suit yourself. Draw!" the duelist drew his card, but he didn't need it to win the duel. "Black Flame Dragon! Attack!" he called.

The Black Flame Dragon of Horus charged up it's attack, and it tore through the Swordmaster, destroying him. The attack reached the boy, and struck him. He was killed as his life points hit zero.

"Fool. Had he told me where his friend was, he would've lived" the mysterious duelist said. The mist disappeared, and his cell phone began to ring. He picked it out of his jacket pocket, and answered. "Osaka here" he said.

_'Ademu, looks like she's found Motou Yuugi. She's at his family's card shop. Should we move in and grab her?' _the voice asked.

"No. I want to catch her and extract her Ka myself. Keep an eye on her and call me if she moves" Ademu answered. He then hung up.

Ademu smirked "The hunt continues, but I will catch you Saratu" he said.

(At KaibaCorp...)

"The system is almost finished. We just need to put the finishing touches into the Partner System Program, and upload it into the new Duel Disks" one of Kaiba's engineers reported to him.

"Good. Get it finished before you or any of your staff leave tonight" Kaiba told him. He nodded as he bowed, and left Kaiba's office.

"That means I'll have to make the announcement about the new system in the morning. Did Pegasus have to add this new system to the game?" Kaiba questioned.

"You know he can Niisama, Despite what he's done in the past, no one can take away the fact that he created Duel Monsters" Mokuba replied.

(Back at the Game Shop)

"Well, thanks for your help Yuugi. I'm glad that I know a little more than I did about my Ka" the girl told Yuugi.

"No problem, I hope this information will help you. What're you going to do now?" Yuugi asked.

"I'm not sure, I've been running from these guys for some time now, and I ran away from home so they wouldn't harm my family" she answered.

"Well, I don't think Grandfather would mind you spending the night here. I'd just need to tell him about it in the morning" Yuugi offered.

"I've just met you, I couldn't..." the girl said.

"It doesn't matter. You've nowhere else to go, right?" Yuugi asked.

"You're a nice guy Yuugi. I haven't even told you my name, yet you're offering to let me stay the night?" the girl replied.

"Well, I don't want to send you back out into the rain, you'll probably catch your death out there" Yuugi told her.

The girl bowed with a smile "Thanks Yuugi. I will try to repay you for this" she answered. "Watashi wa Keshiro Saratu" she added.

"No need to thank me Saratu" Yuugi said.

"Well, now that's settled, maybe all of us should head home, it is getting late" Anzu spoke up.

"It's still pretty bad out, I'd just wait until it stops, or all of you can spend the night here" Yuugi replied.

(Later that night...)

Everyone was fast asleep. It seemed, all except for Saratu. She was staying in the guest room, along with Anzu. Jyonouchi and Honda were downstairs on the couch.

"They need to be tested, before I'll willingly let them help my Guarding Hand" Saratu said. A slight aura was glowing around her, and her eyes were red, instead of their usual blue.

"Which would be the strongest of them I wonder?" The being controlling Saratu said to herself. Grabbing Saratu's cards from the table, she then went into Saratu's backpack, pulling out a Duel Disk. She slipped out of the room after she slid the Duel Disk onto her arm, and placing Saratu's deck into it.

As she walked down the corridor, Yuugi was just emerging from the bathroom. He noticed her, with her Duel Disk on her arm. "Saratu? What're you doing up?" he asked.

"My Guarding Hand still sleeps. I'm not convinced you'll be able to help us at all" The being controlling Saratu answered.

"Guarding Hand?" Yuugi questioned, then remembered what Saratu had said earlier, and a card in the Duel Monsters game. "I see. Saratu is a mordern day Guarding Hand to you, Nephthys" Yuugi replied.

"Correct. My Guarding Hand does know of me, but doesn't know of my abilities to take over her while she sleeps. I wish to test the strongest of your little group, in a game of Duel Monsters. I want to know if you're strong enough to help us" Nephthys told him.

"What are the stakes? Will you leave if you win?" Yuugi asked.

"I leave your prize to you, I will leave if I win" Nephthys replied.

"Okay. If I win this duel, then you'll stay, and tell Saratu of these other abilities of yours" Yuugi said. Nephthys nodded. Yuugi left into his room to get dressed, get his Duel Disk, and his deck.

(End of Chapter)

Here are the cards for the people who don't know the original names.

Iron Knight - Gearfreed is Gearfried the Iron Knight

Swordmaster - Naked Gearfreed is Gearfried the Swordmaster

Curse of Darkness is Shadow Spell

Dragon Majin - King Dragoon is King Dragun


	2. First Duel, Yuugi VS Nephthys

(Chapter 2)

Yuugi was dressed, and had his Duel Disk on his arm. He and Nephthys had gone down into the shop to duel, as it was the only place in the house with enough space for a duel.

"Duel!" Both Yuugi and Nephthys called out. Both of them drew their first 5 cards.

**(Yuugi: 4000) (Nephthys: 4000) **

Yuugi drew an extra card to begin his turn. He looked over his hand, trying to decide what his best option would be. He picked a card out of his hand and placed it onto his Duel Disk "I'll summon Magical Knight - Breaker!" he said. "Turn End" he added. **(Dark/Magic User. ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000. Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, put a Spell Counter on this card (max 1). For each Spell Counter on this card, increase this card's ATK by 300. You may remove one Spell Counter from this card to destroy one Magic or Trap card on the field) (Yuugi: 5 Cards In Hand)**

"My Turn! Draw!" Nephthys replied as she drew her sixth card. _'He's off to a good start, using a Dark monster. I think his deck is mostly made of them. I'm going to have a hard time with his monsters'_ she thought. "I'll set a monster in defense, and set a card face down. Turn End" she told Yuugi.**(Nephthys: 4 Cards in Hand)**

_'I wish I knew what was there... I've no idea what kind of deck Saratu uses, so I don't know what kind of cards Nephthys will play against me, if she's using Saratu's deck' _ Yuugi thought. "My Turn, Draw!" he called out as he drew his card and added it to his hand. "Come out, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" **(Earth/Animal. ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200)** the familiar beast appeared on the field "I'll use the effect of my Magical Knight - Breaker! By removing his spell counter, I can destroy one of the magic or trap cards on the field, so I'll use it on your face down card!" Yuugi said as Breaker formed a glow over his sword, and slashed with it. It sent wave of energy towards the face down card, it hit, and sliced through it. Nephthys discarded the card from the Duel Disk.

"Gazelle, attack her face down monster!" Yuugi ordered. Gazelle leapt towards the face down monster and the card flipped up. A short brown haired girl appeared, who was wielding a staff. He attempted to slash her with his claws, but she defended the strike with her staff. Her staff then started to glow, and the King of Mythical Beasts calmed down, seemingly mesmerised by the glow of the staff. He jumped over to her side.

"You attacked my Earth Spirit User - Aos! Her defense matches your attack, and her effect allows her to take control of your monster" Nephthys informed him.

"But her effect only lasts while she remains on the field. Breaker, attack Earth Spirit User - Aos!" Yuugi replied, his monster charged forward, and raised his sword to the girl, and slashed through her chest. She exploded into pixels, and Gazelle jumped back to Breaker's side. **(Earth/Magic User. ATK: 500/DEF: 1500. Effect: Flip: Take control of 1 Earth monster on your opponent's side of the field. This effect lasts while this monster is face up on your side of the field.) **

"I'll set a card face down. Turn End" Yuugi finished. **(Yuugi: 4 Cards in Hand)**

Nephthys drew, then looked at Yuugi again "Why do you wish to help me and my Guarding Hand? You would be placing yourself in danger, and you hardly know us" Nephthys questioned.

"It's not fair to Saratu that she be chased down like she said by this organisation, because of them wanting you. I've kind of been in the same situation in the past, and I don't want to just sit by and watch someone else go through the same kind of things that I did, because of something that she may have been destined to have" Yuugi explained.

"You seem to be trustworthy, but I won't know if you or your friends are until this duel is over" Nephthys replied. She glanced at the card she drew. "I'll activate the magic card, Scapegoat!" she called out as she slid the card into her duel disk, making the four token monsters appear on her side of the field. "Turn End"

"My Turn, Draw!" Yuugi said as he began his turn. "Gazelle! Attack one of the tokens!" he ordered as Gazelle leapt towards one of the tokens and slashed through it, destroying it instantly.

"My Turn, Draw!" Nephthys called, beginning her turn. "I'll summon this monster, Guarding Hand of Nephthys!" she added, as a person appeared on the field, who was wearing something on their head which was styled like a phoenix's head, golden arm and leg guards, and had fire formed into the shape of a phoenix around them. "I'll activate my Guarding Hand's effect, by sacrificing itself and one of my tokens, I can summon my spirit straight from my deck!" she said, as the two were sacrificed, and in a burst of flames, the Phoenix God of Nephthys appeared on the field. **(Nephthys: 2 Cards in Hand) (Fire/Winged Beast. ATK: 2400/DEF: 1600. Effect: If this card is destroyed by a card effect, Special Summon it on your next Standby Phase. If this card is Special Summoned in this way, destroy all Magic and Trap cards on the field.)** "I'll attack Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" Nephthys called out. The phoenix flew into the air, then flapped it's wings at the beast, sending flames down to burn it. As soon as the flames hit, it shattered into pixels. **(Yuugi's LP: 3100)** "Turn End" she finished.

"My Turn, Draw!" Yuugi said, drawing a new card into his hand. He looked at his hand, thinking of a way to take down the Phoenix. He had one monster on the field, his Magical Knight, and his opponent had a powerful creature that would destroy the knight next turn, if he didn't do something. "I'll sacrifice my Magical Knight - Breaker, in order to bring to the field, Summon Demon!" he explained **(Dark/Demon. ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200).**

Nephthys stared at the demon, and cursed under her breath. This demon had more attack power than her spirit had, and it would surely destroy it this turn. With no face down cards, she wouldn't be able to save it, or resurrect it on her next turn because of being destroyed by an attack.

"Summon Demon! Attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys!" Yuugi ordered.

Lightning formed between the claws of the demon. It fired the blast at the phoenix, destroying it. **(Nephthys' LP: 3900)**

"Turn End" Yuugi finished. **(4 Cards in Hand)**

"My Turn, Draw!" Nephthys began as she drew. She added the card to her hand "I'll activate the Magic Card, Pot of Greed. It allows me to draw two cards from my deck" Nephthys explained, drawing two extra cards, then placing the Pot of Greed card in her graveyard. **(4 Cards in Hand)**. "I'll set two cards face down, and activate the Magic Card Raise Dead. With it, I'll revive my spirit!" Nephthys called as the phoenix returned to the field. "Since it wasn't brought back to the field by it's own effect, it's effect doesn't activate. Turn End" she finished. **(0 Cards in Hand)**

Yuugi looked confused as he drew his next card. Summon Demon would be able to destroy the phoenix again, so why revive it? He could only guess that it was her face down cards. But, to have a better chance at winning, he needed to get Nephthys' spirit off of the field. "Summon Demon! Attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys again!" he ordered.

Nephthys pressed a button on her duel disk to activate a card "Reverse Card Open! Astral Barrier activate!" Nephthys' card flipped up, and a human shaped form of energy formed in front of the phoenix. "With Astral Barrier, I can change any of your attacks into a direct attack on my Life Points, saving my spirit" Nephthys explained.

This confused Yuugi. _'Saratu must not be very good at the game, with the kind of cards that Nephthys is using. But I do wonder why she is protecting her spirit like this. Astral Barrier saved her spirit, but at the cost of a direct attack from my Summon Demon. Does she want to win?"_ he thought to himself.

Nephthys smirked as she pushed another button on her duel disk "Another trap card! Spirit Barrier!" she called as the second card flipped up, and a barrier formed around the human shaped form of energy. "And this card blocks all battle damage to my life points while I have a monster on the field" she explained as the demon's attack struck the barrier, cancelling it out.

_"She played a great defense combo, and until I get one of those cards off of the field, I won't be able to destroy her spirit in battle. She must be better than I thought" _Yuugi thought. "Turn End" he finished. **(5 Cards in Hand)**

Nephthys drew her next card, then set it on her duel disk "I'll set a monster face down, Turn End" **(0 Cards in Hand)**

"My Turn, Draw!" Yuugi said, drawing a new card from his deck. "I'll summon Skilled Black Magician in attack mode" he said as he set the card on his duel disk. a dark robed magician appeared on the field beside the Summon Demon. **(Dark/Magic User. ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1700. Whenever you or your opponent activates a Magic card, put a Spell Counter onto this card (max 3). You may sacrifice this card when there are 3 Spell Counters on this card, and special summon a Black Magician from your hand, deck, or Graveyard.) **"Magic Card, Foolish Burial, Activate! This card lets me take any monster card from my deck and put it in my graveyard!" he explained as he reached for his deck and searched through it for a card. He picked one, reshuffled, and showed the card to her. "The monster I choose is the Buster Blader!" he added as he put the card into his graveyard. One of the gems on the Skilled Black Magician lit up.

Nephthys looked confused as she saw him do this. She knew of the card, and it was a very powerful monster. Especially opposing decks that contained dragon type monsters.

"Next, I'll activate the Magic Card, Move Dead. By discarding a card from my hand, I can put a monster card in my graveyard into my hand" Yuugi explained as he discarded a card, then returned the Buster Blader into his hand. A second gem lit up on the Skilled Black Magician.

"Magic Card, Hand-Sealing Swords of Light, Activate!" Yuugi called as the familiar swords formed in front of Nephthys' monsters. A third gem lit up on the Skilled Black Magician.

"Skilled Black Magician's Effect, activate! By sacrificing him while he has three Spell Counters, I can special summon a Black Magician from my hand or deck!" Yuugi explained as the Skilled Black Magician glowed and disappeared, leaving the Black Magician in his place. **(Dark/Magic User. ATK: 2500/ DEF: 2100)**

"Magic Card, Treasure From Heaven, activate! Both of us draw until we have 6 cards!" Yuugi explained as they both drew 6 cards. Yuugi frowned, he didn't get the card that he needed to finish this combo. But, he did have a card he could use. "Magic Card, Cyclone, activate! I'll use it to destroy the Spirit Barrier!" he called as a cyclone formed out of the card and destroyed the Spirit Barrier. "Summon Demon, attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys!" he ordered. The Summon Demon powered up it's lightning attack and launched it at the phoenix.

"Astral Barrier activate!" Nephthys called. The card took effect, and the human shaped form of energy formed in front of the phoenix. It took the full force of the Summon Demon's attack! **(Nephthys' LP: 1400) **

"I'll set a card face down. Turn End" he finished. **(4 Cards in Hand)**

"My turn, Draw!" Nephthys called as she began her turn. "I'll set two cards face down, and a monster face down. **(4 Cards in Hand)**

"My turn, Draw!" Yuugi called.He smiled slightly as he saw the card he drew. "Magic Card, Fusion, activate! I'll use it to fuse Black Magician and Buster Blader!" he explained with a smile as his card took effect, the Buster Blader appeared on the field and began to fuse with the Black Magician as Yuugi discarded the cards to his graveyard. "Fusion Summon! Super Magical Swordsman - Black Paladin!" he finished as his new monster had formed. **(Dark/Magic User/Fusion of Black Magician and Buster Blader. ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400. Effect: This Monster can only be Special Summoned by a Fusion Summon. When this card is face-up on the Field, you may discard 1 card from your hand to negate an activation of a Magic Card and destroy it. Increase this card's attack strength by 500 for each Dragon Type Monster on all Fields and in all Graveyards).**

Nephthys was a little suprised at the sight of this monster. But at least thought she had a plan to deal with Yuugi's new monster.

"Super Magical Swordsman - Black Paladin! Attack the card on the right!" Yuugi called. The Black Paladin raised his staff and a glow formed. He slashed, and a wave of energy was shot from the staff.

"Reverse Card Open! Attack Nullification!" Nephthys said as she revealed the face down card.

"Counter Trap Open! Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Yuugi replied. **(Yuugi's LP: 2100)**. Nephthys' card was obliterated, and the Black Paladin's attack still hit it's target. "Summon Demon! Attack her other monster!" he ordered. The Summon Demon attacked, successfully destroying her monster.

"You don't have any more monsters to attack me with. Unless you have a card to play, then it's my turn" Nephthys told him.

Yuugi smiled as he slid another card into a magic/trap slot of his duel disk. "Quickplay Magic Card! Fusion Cancel!" he said as his Black Paladin split into it's two separate monsters, Black Magician and Buster Blader. "Buster Blader! Attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys!" he ordered. The Buster Blader leapt forward with his sword raised, and sliced the phoenix into two. "Black Magician! Launch a direct attack on Nephthys!" he finished. The Black Magician raised his staff and fired off a orb of energy. It hit Nephthys, ending the duel. **(Nephthys' LP: 0)**

Yuugi watched as both of their Duel Disks powered down, and return to their standby mode. "Well, what do you think now Nephthys?" he asked.

"If your friends have the same kind of strength that you do, then you'll be able to help us" Nephthys answered. No sooner than she finished speaking, a crash was heard from upstairs.

"That came from the guest room... Anzu!" Yuugi said as he took off up the stairs, Nephthys followed.

As the two got up the stairs, they were met by Jyonouchi and Honda. "We heard the noise, what's going on?" Honda questioned.

"We just finished a duel, and we heard a crash coming from the guest room. Sounded like the window being broken through" Nephthys answered.

Yuugi walked over to the door, and knocked "Anzu, what's going on in there? Are you okay?" he asked. After a few moments of recieving no answer, he opened the door, and a man a few years older than them was standing over Anzu, with a card in his hand, and a very familiar sight, the Sennen Ring was hanging from his neck. "What're you doing to Anzu!" he demanded.

"I'm capturing her spirit. Your punishment for getting involved with Saratu, and Nephthys. She won't be much use to you as a card" he answered, smirking. He then threw the card to Yuugi, and leapt out the broken window.

Yuugi looked down at the card he held, seeing it was a Black Magician Girl card. Anzu's worried blue eyes flashed over the magician's usual green for a moment, then returned to normal. Yuugi collapsed to his knees, and broke into tears.

"I should've warned you they'd do something like this. I'm sorry Yuugi..." Saratu told him as she kneeled down to look at him. He noticed her eyes had returned to their normal blue. "Nephthys just filled me in about what just happened. If we're going to restore Anzu to her body, then we need to act quickly" she added.

"How? I don't have the Puzzle, and I don't know how to use it" Yuugi questioned.

"I know that Yuugi, but if we can find the Puzzle, then you can find out how to unlock it's magic on your own. With it, you might even be able to contact Atem" Saratu replied.

"I just... I just always seem to get those close to me in danger. You were looking for me, hoping to speak to Atem, we wanted to help you, and now look what's happened..." Yuugi sobbed.

"We'll get Anzu back into her body Yuugi. Those bastards won't get away with this" Jyonouchi said as he hit his fist into his other hand.

Yuugi nodded as he got to his feet.

(End of Chapter 2)


	3. The Cursed Duelist

(Chapter 3)

After the events of the night before, everyone had trouble sleeping. After what had happened, Yuugi had to explain to his Grandfather what was going on. He wasn't happy about the window being broken before, when Haga and Ryuuzaki attempted to steal the God cards. Though he didn't mind about everyone staying last night, he was annoyed that he had to get another window fixed.

"Anzu's parents will get worried. But with her separated from her body like this, they'll be wanting to know what happened if we take her home" Yuugi spoke up. They were discussing what to do about Anzu's body, since she had been separated from it.

"They'll know that she came over here last night, so they'll probably call here" Jyonouchi added.

"But just what do we do? Someone also needs to tend to Anzu's body while her soul is away" Saratu questioned.

"Our best bet is to take her to hospital. But it'd be best if one of us stays behind to give a story to cover for what happened" Yuugi replied.

"The three of you are duelists, so I'll stay behind" Honda offered.

"Thanks Honda" Jyonouchi said.

Yuugi turned to Saratu. "But if we're coming with you Saratu, where are we going?" he questioned.

"I'm not sure, but I am sure they know where I am. I say we just wait until they make a move, then demand information from whoever they send after me when we defeat them" Saratu answered.

"Well, we can't go after them if we don't know where they are. But what has me puzzled is what do they want your Ka for anyway?" Jyonouchi asked.

"Are you sure you don't know Saratu?" Honda added.

"I'm sure! If I had any clue then I'd tell you" Saratu snapped at the two of them.

"Have you evel been forced to duel anyone from this organisation?" Yuugi questioned.

Saratu nodded as she took out her deck "I've always had a hard time with them. But without good luck to get better cards, this is the best deck I could create" she answered.

"Well, it's your deck Saratu. But I could let you update your deck with my extra cards" Yuugi told her with a smile.

"Then you could always go into the shop for more cards if you have any extra cash with you" Jyonouchi added, getting a nod from Yuugi.

"Well, with a better deck, I'd have an easier time dueling. Let's get to work" Saratu replied.

(Elsewhere...)

"She can't have many more people to turn to now. I killed her brother" Ademu spoke up. The people sat around the table with him nodded. The room was dark.

"Yes, but as you said Ademu, she has found Motou Yuugi. Without a doubt, he'll offer to strengthen her deck" a man replied. He had the Sennen Ring hanging from his neck

Ademu nodded. "She won't be much of a problem for me, even with a better deck" he answered.

"You are our best Ademu. But we have more targets to collect Ka from. We will need you to concentrate on our other targets for now" The man at the end of the table told him. Ademu nodded.

"If Ademu is concentrating on others, I can have Denierure go after Saratu" a woman spoke up. Strangely, she was holding a doll in her lap.

"She may have to duel with Yuugi. We know he is classed as the best duelist in the world" their leader told her. "But either way, you know what will happen. I presume you have a plan?" he asked.

The woman nodded. "I will explain everything to her" she answered as she got up and left the room.

"But sir, about the girl that was with her brother..." Ademu started.

"Leave her. If she finds Saratu, then there may be times when she'll let her guard down. Then, you could capture her Ka without a duel" their leader replied.

(Back at the Game Shop, later...)

"Okay, that should do it. Thanks for helping me, both of you" Saratu smiled at Yuugi and Jyonouchi. Honda had left to take Anzu's body to hospital.

"It always takes me about this long to create my new decks. I just hope you're confident with your new deck" Yuugi replied.

"We've already tested it Yuugi. When I was first going through your deck, I was wondering if you were any good. Now I know you are" Jyonouchi added.

"Yeah, and now I know why you ranked so high in the recent tournaments" Saratu said. Jyonouchi laughed at this.

"Yeah, but both of us are always improving. I don't see why people don't give Jyonouchi-kun the kind of respect that they give me. He's got a lot better since our first major tournament, back at Duelist Kingdom" Yuugi replied.

"I never got an invite to play at Duelist Kingdom. But I did improve and competed at Battle City. I was knocked out early on, by Kaiba Seto. He finished me off pretty quickly. He ended the duel with this card I'd never seen, or even heard of before. I later found out what that card was. One of the Sangenshin" Saratu explained.

"How'd you end up dueling with Kaiba?" Jyonouchi questioned.

"He was looking for Puzzle Cards. I won and lost a few duels, so I was down to my last one when he dueled me. I was no match for him" Saratu answered.

"Well, that's in the past now. Maybe you'll get a chance to duel him again" Yuugi told her.

Jyonouchi looked at his watch. Noticing the time, he got up. "Yuugi, we need to go meet Shizuka" he said.

Yuugi looked up at the clock in his room. He nodded. He turned to Saratu. "Are you going to come with us Saratu?" he questioned.

Saratu pocketed her deck, nodding. "If we're going to find one of them, I guess we need to be out" she answered.

(Downtown, later...)

"Um, Jyonouchi-kun, why did you ask me to help you with this?" Yuugi asked. He was nervously looking around, turning his head quite often.

"Shizuka told me she wanted to start playing Duel Monsters. So I thought 'Who better to teach her to play better than two high ranked duelists?' And you're the only other high ranked duelist I know who I could even speak to" Jyonouchi answered as they walked on.

"Well, I guess Kaiba-kun would be hard to reach anyway, and I can't see him doing something like this, especially for you. But you know how much I get stopped by duelists wanting to duel me. It was hard enough getting them to believe that I lost the Sangenshin cards" he said.

"The Pharaoh had them?" Saratu questioned.

Yuugi nodded. "In the Ceremonial Duel, he was using them in his deck. I managed to defeat him. I don't know what happened to his cards after the duel though. His Duel Disk just vanished from his arm, his deck along with it. I'm glad I had spares of most of the cards he used" he told her.

After walking on a little longer, Jyonouchi smiled as he saw Shizuka, his younger sister. He waved to her, but she didn't notice him. As he got closer, he saw why. She had her attention on a younger girl, whom was crying. She was about Mokuba's age, maybe a little younger. She had short blonde hair, and her eyes were the same shade of blue as Saratu's.

Saratu gasped as she noticed the younger girl. Shizuka noticed her. "Do you know her? I found her crying, and I can't get her to calm down" she asked.

Saratu nodded as she walked over to her and kneeled down at her side. "Kuri, what're you doing here?" she asked. The crying girl looked up at her.

"I came looking for you, with Rianu-niichan. This guy challenged him to a game of Duel Monsters. Rianu told me to run for it. When I got back to him later, he...he" Kuri explained, before crying out loud again.

Saratu held her close again, stroking the back of her head. "I understand" she told her gently.

"Who is that?" Jyonouchi asked suddenly. Saratu continued to comfort the young girl, before glaring at him.

"She's my younger sister, Keshiro Kurisutaru. Rianu is the eldest of the three of us. If I'm right, that guy dueled with him right before he sealed Anzu's spirit into Yuugi's Black Magician Girl card" Saratu answered.

"It could've been someone else Saratu" Yuugi spoke up. Saratu nodded.

"Rianu-niichan is good at Duel Monsters. As far as I've seen, there's only one of those guys that would've had the skill to defeat him. Osaka Ademu" Saratu replied. "And the guy that had the Ring wasn't him. I'd never seen him before" she added.

"Maybe he's just the only good duelist of theirs you've seen? They could have others" Jyonouchi spoke up.

(Nearby...)

The woman from earlier was speaking with a young girl in a nearby alley. Now, she could be clearly seen. She had long dark green hair and eyes, and was wearing a purple dress. She looked to be very intimidating. "You have your orders. I'll be watching" she told her.

The girl looked a little nervous. She had long blue hair and eyes, and was wearing what looked like a doll's blue and white dress. She was about the same age as Yuugi and everyone. "I don't know... Mistress, he's the top ranked duelist in the world!" she replied.

This angered the older woman. "You dare talk back? I can return you to your doll form now if you want" she said, making the girl flinch in fear.

"No Mistress! I just don't think I can beat him..." the girl answered as she looked away from her mistress.

The woman put her hands on the girl's shoulders, making her look back at her. "Do not worry Denierure. I have a plan to aid you. You do not have to challenge Yuugi. Make your choice, and duel your best against whoever you challenge" she encouraged her.

Denierure thought about her mistress' words, then nodded.

The woman took out a Duel Disk and handed it to her, a deck was already loaded into it. "I'll let you use your own deck this time" she told her as she then turned away and started walking in the other direction.

Denierure slid the Duel Disk onto her arm, and slid her deck out to shuffle it. _'If I can win this, I can finally be free of this curse. I won't have to become a doll again. But I wonder what Mistress has in mind to aid me?'_ she wondered as she finished shuffling and loaded her deck into her Duel Disk again. She looked out of the alley, at the group, trying to decide who to duel.

(End of Chapter)

Okay! I know it's short, but I wanted to save the next duel for next chapter. Speaking of that, I have this up on four different sites, and I can't decide who Denierure should duel. So, I'm going to let you readers decide. People on the forums, either PM me or leave a comment on the fanfic thread. People reading on PM me, leave your answer in a review, or email me. I'll wait until I have a few votes to start writing the new chapter. If I can get ahold of you, I'll also send some information about next chapter to those people who vote.

Also, I'm still in need of more characters for duelists. PLEASE send a decklist with your character, and some possible combos you wish your character to use.


	4. Doll Curse Duel! Denierure VS Jyonouchi!

Thank you very much for the characters. As well as writing this, I'm working on the decks for your characters (you know who you are).

(Chapter 4: Doll Curse Duel! Jyonouchi VS Denierure!)

Denierure still had trouble deciding who to duel. She didn't know if the other two with them were duelists, but she doubted it. She knew three of them were. She didn't want to duel Yuugi, as she knew of his reputation as Duel King.

She remembered that Saratu was her Mistress' target, but she didn't know how good she was at duelling. All her Mistress had said was that there was a chance that Saratu now had a better deck than her old one. She didn't mention how good she actually was at duelling.

Denierure only noticed the other guy was a duelist because of the Duel Disk on his arm. She had no idea who he was. He didn't seem to be much trouble, but she knew to never underestimate an opponent. Past experiences had taught her that the hard way.

Denierure knew she had to make her decision quickly. Her mistress wouldn't be happy if she took too long. _'I just have to win' _she thought to herself as she moved out of the alley, and started heading towards the group.

(Nearby...)

Denierure's mistress was watching from the rooftop of a building. She noticed Denierure heading towards the group. She was talking on a cell phone. "Looks like she's decided. She's heading towards them now" she said.

_"I hope you know what you're doing Ayra. If this plan of yours backfires then we could lose her" _Ademu replied on the other end.

"Don't you worry about that. My magic will be aiding her" Ayra told him.

(With the group...)

Saratu had been successful in calming Kuri down a little. Saratu knew she had a good enough reason to be upset, but at least she wasn't crying anymore.

"Wow, you're the Duel King?" Kuri asked. Yuugi nodded.

Saratu smiled at her "She's been following the game as much as she can. She is really willing to learn how to duel, but I think she's a little young to understand everything in the game yet. She knows when I think she's ready, I'm going to teach her," she explained.

"Well, with some of the players around, you'll need to teach her well" Yuugi said.

"I know Saratu-neechan can teach me" Kuri replied.

Jyonouchi was giving Shizuka advice on how to duel better. She was listening well. He noticed a girl he'd never seen before walking over to them, in his direction to be precise. He noticed the Duel Disk on her arm. Though he did wonder why she was dressed the way she was.

Once she was close enough, she looked at him. "Um, could I have a duel with you?" she questioned nervously

Jyonouchi looked at Shizuka for a moment "Do you mind?" he asked. Shizuka shook her head.

"It's been so long since I've seen you duel Oniichan" Shizuka replied.

Jyonouchi smiled as he got up and took out his deck, then slid it into his Duel Disk. It switched into Duel Mode. The girl's Duel Disk did the same. He noticed she looked a little nervous. "I'll let you start first" he told her as he drew his first 5 cards. She did the same.

"Duel!" both Jyonouchi and Denierure called out.

**(Jyonouchi's LP: 4000) (Denierure's LP: 4000)**

"Draw" Denierure said as she drew to begin her turn. She looked over her hand. She picked a card out and set it on her Duel Disk. "I'll summon Mermaid Knight in Attack mode" she said as a purple haired mermaid wielding a sword and shield appeared. **(Water/Aqua. ATK: 1500/ DEF: 700. Effect: While 'Sea' is on the field, this monster may attack twice in a turn) **"I'll then set a card face down. Turn End" she finished. **(4 Cards in Hand)**

"My turn, draw!" Jyonouchi called as he drew. "I'll summon Dark Leopard Warrior - Panther Warrior in attack mode!" he said as the familliar monster appeared on his side of the field. **(Earth/Animal Warrior. ATK: 2000/DEF: 1600. Effect: This card cannot attack without sacrificing a monster.) **"I'll set two cards face down. Turn End" he told her. **(3 Cards in Hand)**

"My turn, draw" Denierure began as she drew a card from her deck. "I'll summon Princess Ningyo in attack mode" she called out as she set the card on her Duel Disk. A blonde haired, red finned mermaid appeared on her field. **(Water/Fish. ATK: 1500/DEF: 800. Effect: As long as this card remains face up on your side of the field, increase your Life Points by 800 at each of your Standby Phases.) **"I'll then play the Magic Card Waterworld. This field increases the attack power of all Water Monsters by 500, and decreases their defense by 400" she explained as holographic water appeared around them. **(Current Stats: ATK: 2000/ DEF: 400) **(Note: Princess Ningyo is the original name for Cure Mermaid. I was only just able to find this out)

"Lastly, I'll equip my Princess Ningyo with the Equip Magic Card, Mistbody. While equipped with this card, she can't be destroyed in battle. So, I'll have her attack your Panther Warrior!" she ordered as the mermaid swam in the newly formed water towards the Panther Warrior, then leapt out as she reached him.

Jyonouchi smirked as he pushed a button on his Duel Disk. "Trap Card, Chained Boomerang!" he called as a metal boomerang with a chain appeared in the hands of his Panther Warrior. **(ATK: 2500)**. The Panther Warrior threw its new weapon at the Princess. It cut through the mermaid, but it just seemed to go through an illusion. It flew by Denierure, and just cut her cheek as the Panther Warrior retrieved its weapon. **(Denierure's LP: 3500).** "Panther Warrior might need a sacrifice to attack, but that doesn't apply to when he's being attacked" he explained.

Denierure gasped as something surged through her. She knew her body was beginning to stiffen. _'This must be what Mistress was telling me about, how she intended to aid me'_ she thought. "Turn End" she called over to him. **(3 Cards In Hand)**

(Above the duel...)

Ayra laughed as she continued to watch the duel. She had a hand held out in front of her; she had a pendant dangling from it, over the duel. It was glowing slightly. She was still holding the phone in her other hand.

_'Denierure must have noticed that the Yami no Game has started by now'_ Ademu said.

"She's used to this game Ademu. No matter how good her opponent is, the Yami no Game should throw him off," Ayra spoke into the phone, never taking her eyes off of the duel.

_'Are you relying on that for Denierure to win?'_ Ademu asked. Ayra didn't give an answer.

(Back in the duel...)

"My turn, Draw!" Jyonouchi said as he drew a new card. He added it to his hand. "I'll summon Goblin Attack Force in attack mode!" he told her as he set the card onto his duel disk. The goblins appeared on his field. **(Earth/Warrior. ATK: 2300/DEF: 0. Effect: After this card attacks, switch it to defense mode at the end of the Battle Phase.) **"My Goblin Attack Force will attack your Mermaid Knight!" he called out as his goblins leapt towards the Mermaid Knight, and hit it with their clubs, destroying it. **(Denierure's LP: 3200)**. After their attack, the goblins returned to Jyonouchi's side of the field.

"Next, I'll sacrifice my Goblins to let my Dark Leopard Warrior - Panther Warrior attack your Princess Ningyo!" Jyonouchi added as the goblins were sacrificed, and the Panther Warrior threw the Chained Boomerang at the Princess Ningyo. His attack had no effect on it, but it hit Denierure again. **(Denierure's LP: 2700)**. "Lastly I'll activate the Magic Card, Dangerous Machine Type-6. This card doesn't activate until the Standby Phase of my next turn. Turn End!" he finished. **(Continuous Magic. Effect: Roll a dice once during each of your Standby Phases. Activate the following effects according to the result. 1: Discard 1 card from your hand. 2: Your opponent must discard 1 card from his/her hand. 3: Draw 1 card from your Deck. 4: Your opponent must draw 1 card from his/her Deck. 5: Destroy 1 of your opponent's monsters on the field. 6: Destroy this card.) (2 Cards In Hand)**

After each attack, Denierure felt her body stiffening more. _'He doesn't know this is a Yami no Game, because I haven't been able to damage his Life Points. I had no idea he'd be such a strong duelist. I should have guessed he'd be strong, since he is with Yuugi'_ she thought.

"Something up? It's your turn" Jyonouchi asked.

Denierure silently drew her next card, and felt some of the stiffness wear off as her Princess Ningyo's effect increased her Life Points. **(Denierure's LP: 3500)**. She added the card to her hand, before looking at what she just drew. _'Just the card I needed'_ she thought to herself. "I'll remove my Mermaid Knight from my graveyard in order to special summon my Aqua Spirit" she called out as the Mermaid Knight appeared for a moment, before disappearing and a short blue haired, green skinned woman wearing what looked like a blue dress appeared on Denierure's field **(Water/Aqua. ATK: 1600/ DEF: 1200) this card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by removing from play 1 WATER monster in your Graveyard. During each of your opponent's Standby Phases, you can change the battle position of 1 of your opponent's face-up Monster Cards. Once changed, the monster must remain in this position for the rest of the turn)**. "I'll then activate my Field Magic Card, Legendary City Atlantis," she added as she discarded the Umiiruka field, and replaced it with the new field. Water formed around them, then the ruins of an ancient city also formed. **(Field Magic. Effect: This card's name is treated as if it was Sea. The levels of Water Attribute monsters in a player's hand and on the field are reduced by 1. Increase the attack and defense strengths of all Water Attribute Monsters on the Field by 200) **"Since the level of all Water Monsters was just reduced by my field, I'll sacrifice my Aqua Spirit!" she said as she discarded the card from her duel disk, and the Aqua Spirit formed into energy. She took a card from her hand and held it up for Jyonouchi to see "and summon Levia-Dragon - Daedalus!" she finished as she put the card into play, and the large two headed snake-like dragon formed on Denierure's field. **(Water/Sea Dragon. ATK: 2600/DEF: 1500. Effect: Send Sea on your field to Graveyard, destroy all cards on the field except this card)** **(Current Stats: ATK: 2800/DEF: 1700)**

Jyonouchi looked up in awe at the large monster. Because of Denierure's field, this thing was easier to summon, and made stronger.

"Levia-Dragon - Daedalus! Attack the Panther Warrior!" Denierure called out. The dragon complied, and rushed through the water. Once it was close enough, it extended it's neck and ate the Panther Warrior. It then returned to its place behind Denierure.** (Jyonouchi's LP: 3700)**

The life point meter only decreased a little, but Jyonouchi began to feel the same stiffness that Denierure had. He tried to shrug it off, but the feeling wouldn't leave him. _'What is this?'_ he wondered.

"Next, Princess Ningyo! Player Direct Attack!" Denierure added. As the mermaid headed towards Jyonouchi, he pushed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Trap Card, Magic-Arm Shield, Activate!" Jyonouchi called out. The card flipped up, and the magical arms grabbed Denierure's Levia-Dragon, and pulled it over to Jyonouchi's side of the field, in the way of the Princess Ningyo's attack. He watched as the mermaid attacked the Levia-Dragon with its fin, then the Levia-Dragon attempted to eat the mermaid. Princess Ningyo turned into mist, and reformed a moment later. **(Denierure's LP: 2900). **The trap disappeared and the Levia-Dragon returned to Denierure's side of the field.

"Turn End" Denierure finished. **(1 Card in Hand)**

"My turn, Draw!" Jyonouchi said as he drew a new card. "Dangerous Machine Type-6's Effect activates! The machine picks a number at random, and it'll activate an effect depending on the number it picked" he explained. The machine started up, and a moment later, it had chosen its number, 5. Jyonouchi grinned. "A 5! That means I get to destroy one of your monsters! I'll choose your Levia-Dragon - Daedalus!" he said, as the Levia-Dragon - Daedalus exploded.

Yuugi, Saratu and Kuri had been watching from the sidelines. Saratu looked a little confused. She turned to Yuugi. "Does his deck rely on luck?" she asked.

"Jyonouchi-kun does use a lot of gambling based cards, but he is still a good duelist. Some of his cards do sometimes backfire on him, but he can come back from his mistakes very quickly. He's not a duelist to underestimate" Yuugi answered.

"I see..." Saratu replied. She turned to look at Denierure.

"Something the matter?" Yuugi questioned.

"It's nothing" Saratu assured him. _'If I'm right, she's working for those bastards. If that's true, Ayra must be manipulating her. I'll never forget that Yami no Game. This must be what happens to those who lose'_ she thought to herself. She noticed something strange about the blue haired girl. Her legs looked to be a little stiff. She looked around, and then looked up. She noticed a small light from the roof of the building above them. She gasped. _'Ayra! She's using her magic over the duel. It's a Yami no Game!' _she realized. She looked in worry at Jyonouchi.

Kuri squeezed her older sister's hand, making her look down at her. "Are you okay Neechan?" she asked.

"I said it's nothing Kuri. Don't you worry about it" Saratu said, forcing a smile.

Jyonouchi had summoned his Iron Knight - Gearfreed, he took another card from his hand and slid it into his duel disk. "Restraint Removal, Activate!" he called out. His knight's armor cracked open, revealing the much stronger warrior under it, Swordmaster - Naked Gearfreed. **(Light/Warrior. ATK: 2600/DEF: 2200. Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned. This card can only be special summoned by the effect of Restraint Removal. Whenever this card is equipped with equipment card, destroy a monster on opponent's field.)**

Denierure gasped a little as she saw the new warrior. She knew of its ability, and she wondered if Jyonouchi was going to use it.

"Gearfreed! Attack the Princess Ningyo!" Jyonouchi ordered as his warrior drew its sword, and slashed the mermaid. The wound instantly healed. **(Denierure's LP: 2300) **"Turn End" he finished.** (1 Card in Hand)**

"My turn, draw" Denierure began as she drew. Her life points increased thanks to her Princess Ningyo's effect **(Denierure's LP: 3100)** "I'll set a card face down, and switch my Princess Ningyo into defense mode. Turn End" she simply said as she set a card into her duel disk, and switched the position of her mermaid. Her Princess Ningyo crossed its arms out in front of itself. **(1 Card in Hand)**

"My turn, Draw!" Jyonouchi called out as he drew a new card. "Dangerous Machine Type-6 activates!" he said as his machine started up again. It picked a 3. "3! That means I get to draw a card," he added as he drew an extra card. "I'll equip my Swordmaster with Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade! It raises the attack of any warrior it's equipped to by 300!" he explained as a sword with a handle styled like a phoenix appeared in the Swordmaster's hands. "And my Swordmaster's effect allows me to destroy your Princess Ningyo!" he added as his Swordmaster slashed the mermaid with it's new sword, destroying it instantly. "Swordmaster - Naked Gearfreed! Player Direct Attack!" he ordered as his warrior dashed forward, and slashed Denierure. **(Denierure's LP: 200)**.

Denierure gasped and winced a little as Ayra's magic did its work on her. She knew she now couldn't run from this duel, because her legs were too stiff to even move. Her torso also stiffened the same way, and her arms were also beginning to stiffen too.

Saratu noticed this. _'Jyonouchi is duelling well, and she's getting worse as her life points decrease. Hasn't Jyonouchi noticed?'_ she wondered to herself.

Denierure pushed a button on her duel disk. "Damage Condenser, Activate!" she called out. "This card requires me to discard a card from my hand to activate it when I take battle damage, then special summon a monster from my deck that has equal to or less ATK than the amount of battle damage" she explained as she discarded a card, and reached into her deck, picked out a card, then reshuffled. She then put the card on her duel disk "Levia-Dragon - Daedalus!" she announced as the dragon appeared on the field.

"Turn End" Jyonouchi finished. **(Jyonouchi: 2 Cards in Hand) (Denierure: 0 Cards in Hand)**

"My turn, Draw!" Denierure began, drawing a card. She smiled a little as she looked at the card she drew. "The force of the ocean is a force to be reckoned with. Do you think you can handle its full force?" she asked.

Jyonouchi looked confused at the question. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

"For years I've been fascinated by the ocean. How something that at times can be very beautiful, can cause so much destruction" Denierure began. "You might've thought that my Levia-Dragon was my strongest monster. For a time, that was true. The strongest monster I have is one that can wield the true force of the ocean. I sacrifice my Levia-Dragon - Daedalus!" she called out; the Levia-Dragon disappeared as Denierure replaced it with another card. "To summon my dragon's evolved form, Sea Dragon King - Neo-Daedalus!" she said as the larger two-headed dragon formed behind Denierure. **(Water/Sea Dragon. ATK: 2900/DEF: 1600. Effect: This card can't be Normal Summoned. This card can only be Special Summoned by sacrificing a **

**Levia-Dragon - Daedalus on your field. Send a Sea card on your field to your Graveyard, send all cards other than this card on both players' field and in their hands to their respective Graveyards)** "Neo-Daedalus! Tidal Rage!" she called out as the dragon began to roar loudly. Currents in the water around them began to form. Soon, the water formed into a tidal wave and smashed into Jyonouchi, his Swordmaster, his face down card and his Dangerous Machine, and then Denierure. Jyonouchi discarded both of the cards in his hand and on his field, as Denierure discarded her field. "Player Direct Attack!" she added as the dragon breathed in, then fired two blasts of water at Jyonouchi. **(Jyonouchi's LP: 800)**

Jyonouchi gasped as his body stiffened more. "Something isn't right, and you haven't said a word. Do you know something about this?" he demanded.

"I thought you would have pieced it together yourself. This is a Yami no Game" Denierure simply answered.

"I thought you realized it earlier Jyonouchi-kun. That's why I never said anything" Yuugi spoke up. "But this is affecting you too" he added to Denierure.

Denierure lowered her head. "I'm used to it," she said. "Turn End" she added. Jyonouchi was only just able to hear her.

"My Turn! Draw!" Jyonouchi called out, not taking his eyes off of Denierure. He couldn't forget the last time he played in a Yami no Game, back at Battle City in his Duel with Malik. But he noticed she didn't seem to be enjoying herself. The only two people he knew of who forced their opponents into Yami no Games were both crazy. And he also knew the both of them loved seeing their opponents in fear because of the game. He noticed that this girl wasn't like that. Shaking his head, he looked at the card he drew. "I activate the Magic Card, Treasure of Destiny!" he called over to her.

"That card allows Jyonouchi to roll a dice and he gets to draw cards from his deck, depending on the result, but then has to remove from play the same number of cards from his deck" Yuugi explained.

A dice was rolled in the card's hologram, giving a 5. He drew 5 cards, and then removed the next top 5 cards from the game. Seeing what he drew, he grinned like an idiot. "I summon Troop Commander in attack mode!" he said as an armoured man carrying two swords appeared on Jyonouchi's field. **(Earth/Warrior. ATK: 1200/ DEF: 400. Effect: When this card is face-up on the field, your opponent cannot choose other Warrior type monsters on your field as target of battle. When this card is successfully summoned,**

**Special summon a monster with Level 4 or less to the field.) **"I activate my Commander's effect and summon Black Dragon's Poult!" he said as he put the card on his duel disk. **(Dark/Dragon. ATK: 800/ DEF: 500. Effect: You may put this card into the Graveyard to Special Summon a Red Eyes Black Dragon form your hand.)** "I'll activate his effect, and send him to the graveyard, to summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" he added as he switched the Black Dragon's Poult card with his Red-Eyes, then put the Poult card in his graveyard. **(Dark/Dragon. ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2000)**

"That may be a level 7 dragon, but he's 500 attack points short of being able to even tie with Neo-Daedalus" Denierure informed him. A smirk formed on Jyonouchi's face.

"I know that, but your Levia-Dragon isn't the only monster that can evolve in that way. I sacrifice my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Jyonouchi replied, then removed his Red-Eyes from his field and slid it into his graveyard, then replaced it with another card. "To special summon this monster, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" he added as his dragon began to change. Red lines began to appear around the dragon's body, the dragon's wings and arms seemed to fuse together, and red gems formed on his legs, his wings, his chest and his head. **(Dark/Dragon. ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2000. Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned. This card can only be Special Summoned by sacrificing a Red Eyes Black Dragon on your field. For each Dragon type monster in your Graveyard, increase this card's attack strength by 300.) (Current Stats: ATK: 3000/ DEF: 2000)**

Denierure's shoulders fell, and she lowered her head. "Finish me..." she said quietly, only just loud enough for Jyonouchi to hear her.

Jyonouchi just looked at her. He saw a tear drop to the floor. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Denierure's head snapped up "I said finish me!" she yelled at him.

"I know that there's a reason that you're doing all of this. You have a good reason to duel" Jyonouchi told her.

Denierure lowered her head again, nodding slightly. "I was duelling you to become free of this curse that I'm under. I was a good duelist before I was cursed. All that changed after I dueled Ayra, my mistress" she began. Everyone looked at her in concern as she continued. "This curse that she has me under allows her to use her magic to turn me into a doll at any time she pleases. Over the last few months she's trained me to be completely loyal to her. The only times I really get to be human now is to duel for my freedom. I haven't won a duel since I lost to her. It's that same magic of hers that is partly fueling this Yami no Game. I don't want to fight like this anymore, but Ayra keeps forcing me to. I don't want anyone to ever go through what I have in these last few months" she explained.

"And if I lose this, the curse that you're under will transfer to me?" Jyonouchi asked. Denierure nodded. "If you're completely loyal to her now, you'll never be able to win a duel. You're a good duelist, but your loyalty to her is holding you back" he told her.

Denierure looked up at him. _'He's right, during my duels, I worry too much about what Ayra will do to me if I lose again' _she realized. She smiled a little. "Thank you for helping me see that. But that doesn't change anything. One of us still has to win this duel, and you're two attacks away from defeating me" she said.

Jyonouchi hadn't forgotten about the stiffness that he still felt. He didn't want to finish her off, since she would have to continue living under her mistress. But, he also didn't want to take her place either.

Denierure could see from where she stood that he couldn't decide. With a slight smile on her face, she called out to him "Don't worry about me. Your words have reminded me of the feelings I felt when I dueled before I was cursed. The next time I duel, I'll get myself out of this. I'll duel you again someday"

"You're sure?" Jyonouchi asked.

Denierure nodded. "I'm sure it won't be too long before Ayra wants me to duel again" she answered.

"I never caught your name" Jyonouchi said.

"Shinoko Denierure" Denierure replied, then remembered what Yuugi had called him earlier. "Wait, I thought your duelling style seemed familiar to me. You're Jyonouchi Katsuya, one of the finalists at Duelist Kingdom, and you were in the final 8 duelists of Battle City. You came... fourth if I remember rightly" she added.

Jyonouchi nodded. "That's right. I see that you know whom to follow in Duel Monsters" he told her with a smile on his face, making Yuugi sweatdrop.

"Well Jyonouchi, I hope that you keep well until our next duel" Denierure told him, as she closed her eyes.

Jyonouchi nodded to her, then turned to his dragon "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon! Attack the Sea Dragon King - Neo-Daedalus! Darkness Giga Flame!" he ordered. His dragon began to glow a purple colour as it charged up its attack. It then let out a powerful breath of fire that incinerated the Sea Dragon King. **(Denierure's LP: 100)**. "Troop Commander! Direct Attack!" he added as his warrior dashed forward and slashed Denierure with both of its swords. She winced as the direct attack hit her, decreasing her life points to 0.

Denierure smiled at him as Ayra's magic finished stiffening her body. Saratu saw the glow she saw earlier not too far from them. Denierure was covered in a similar glow, and she soon began to shrink. Once she stopped shrinking, her doll form floated away from them, in the direction of the glow. She floated into Ayra's waiting hand.

"Shit, it looks like she lost again. I can't keep a hold of her for much longer. Her next duel might be her last" Ayra spoke.

_"If you've used up your magic on her, have her duel once more and if she loses again, extract her Ka before the curse breaks. You know we gave you more than enough time with her"_ Ademu replied as he hung up.

_'That's true. I was able to find out what her Ka was, a currently unidentified mermaid, that looked to be a strong Ka. A Ka like that would be a good addition to our leader's collection. I just wonder what he's after all these Ka for?'_ Ayra thought to herself.

Jyonouchi's duel disk powered down, and everyone noticed Ayra a few metres away from them. "Who are you!" he called out.

"I believe Denierure mentioned me" Ayra answered.

"Ayra" Saratu glared at the older woman.

"So you're the one that did this to Denierure" Jyonouchi said.

Ayra nodded with an evil smirk. "I've enjoyed training her the way I have" she replied.

"You'll never keep her, I'm sure she'll break away from you" Jyonouchi told her.

"After being defeated by you, she has once chance left at freedom. After that, I'll be extracting her Ka" Ayra laughed.

"You have no right!" Saratu yelled. Kuri backed away from her sister as she saw an orange glow around her body. The glow intensified, and formed into Saratu's Ka, the Phoenix God of Nephthys.

"Your Ka does not scare me Saratu, you should know that by now" Ayra told her with a laugh.

(End of Chapter)


	5. Ka Fight!

(Chapter 5)

With a loud cry, Nephthys flapped her wings and thrust herself towards Ayra.

Seeing this coming, Ayra began to whisper something to herself. She then placed a hand on Denierure's head and her eyes began to glow. A green haired and finned mermaid formed in front of her- A small crown rested on the mermaid's head. She put herself between Nephthys and Ayra.

"I'm sure you don't want to harm her Ka, since it is a main part of her soul" Ayra laughed.

Nephthys stopped her charge and attempted to move around the mermaid, but it seemed that she wouldn't let Nephthys pass.

"She's protecting Denierure. If Nephthys attacks Ayra, then Denierure will also be hit" Yuugi spoke up.

Saratu nodded as she looked on. _'Denierure won't be able to move like that, so she can't get out of Ayra's grip so Nephthys can attack her. What do I do?' _she wondered to herself.

"Oneechan? What's going on?" Kuri asked worriedly. Saratu glanced back at her.

"This is why I ran away Kuri. People are after my Ka" Saratu explained, gesturing to Nephthys.

"Saratu, look out!" Yuugi called out. Saratu looked ahead again and another Ka had appeared. It was a monster that looked similar to Dark Necrophia.

Nephthys noticed the Ka, but wasn't able to dodge before it attacked her. It charged up an energy blast and fired it at her. Nephthys took the hit, and fell to the ground, but was able to get herself back into the air. She raised her wings and flapped them with great force, creating a raging flame. It hit the Dark Necrophia, but did no damage.

"You know your Ka cannot hurt mine Saratu. Why must you keep on resisting us?" Ayra questioned.

"I know that Nephthys and I are one being. One can't live without the other. If I let you take Nephthys, I'll die. I'm not going to just sit back and throw my life away" Saratu answered.

"At the cost of the lives of the others that have tried to help you?" Ayra asked.

This surprised Yuugi and Jyonouchi. They both turned to Saratu. "They won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get what they want." Saratu told them.

"Yet you keep eluding us. We will get you eventually Saratu" Ayra replied

Denierure's Ka leapt towards Nephthys. Surprised by this, she was taken off guard and the Dark Necrophia attacked again. The attack slammed into Nephthys, and Saratu screamed as she felt a sharp pain in her heart. Her Ka was destroyed. She fell to one knee, panting heavily.

"Back off! Holy Surge!" a voice called out. Green energy bolts struck the Dark Necrophia, forcing it to back away from Saratu.

"What was that?" Jyonouchi questioned as another monster hovered down towards them.

"That monster is... Archangel Zerato!" Yuugi answered as the winged monster touched down on the ground.

_'I don't have the strength to defeat Zerato. She got lucky again..._' Ayra thought as she recalled her own and Denierure's Ka, then took off.

Saratu manged to get to her feet, with Jyonouchi's aid. "T-thank you, but why are you here?" she asked.

The Archangel turned to face her. "I couldn't let them take your Ka" he answered.

Saratu gasped. "T-that voice... Niisan!" she said.

Zerato nodded. "It's good to see Kurisutaru found you" he replied.

"So you're the brother that she was crying about earlier?" Jyonouchi asked.

"I had to use my Ka. That guy killed my body. I don't have much strength left to stay..." Zerato answered as he fell to one knee.

"You're weak, save your strength" Yuugi told him.

Zerato shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Saving my energy won't give me anymore time" he replied. He noticed Kuri was standing a little way away from him, behind Shizuka, a few tears in her eyes. "What's the matter Kuri?" he questioned.

"I don't know what's happening. I thought that you were gone Rianu-niichan" Kuri answered.

"I only had the strength to help Saratu this one time Kuri. I am dead, but I will watch over both of you" Zerato replied as he turned back to Saratu. "Keep each other safe, since the two of us have strong Ka, I don't doubt Kuri might have one too" he told her. Saratu nodded as he faded away.

(Back at the Game Shop, minutes later...)

Saratu was working on a laptop that she had brought with her. She looked up from what she was looking at. "So now you see why I have to stop them. They're not just after me" she told everyone present. Jyonouchi had filled Shizuka in about what was happening, since she had witnessed his duel with Denierure.

"I thought you only cared about getting them off of your own back" Jyonouchi replied, getting a glare in response from Saratu.

"The only way I'm going to do that is defeating all of them, and shutting down their operations. They've ruined enough lives as it is, you saw what they did to Denierure" Saratu explained. Jyonouchi nodded.

"You seemed quiet during the duel Saratu. Is something bothering you?" Yuugi asked.

Saratu sighed. "Both Ayra and Ademu have been chasing me for the last few months. The first time Ayra came after me, she had one of her victims duel me. I almost lost the duel and became one of her dueling dolls. The only reason I was able to win was because I drew Nephthys at the time I needed her" she answered. "I just hope Denierure can free herself of Ayra. She doesn't deserve having her Ka extracted, just because she probably has a strong one." she added.

"If she can keep her mind off of Ayra during her next duel, I think she will." Jyonouchi replied.

Yuugi took out his deck. The Black Magician Girl card was on top. "I just can't believe they'd do what they have, just to get people's Ka. We've been sealed in cards before, but that was just for one duel. I can't imagine what Anzu is going through now" he spoke up.

"We'll get her out of there eventually Yuugi" Saratu replied as she looked back down at her laptop's screen and scrolled down. She gasped as she noticed something. "I was just looking at a site that had a few of the announced cards for the next Duel Monsters booster, and it looks like a card was just made of Denierure's Ka." she said.

"How would Pegasus' card designers know about her Ka?" Jyonouchi questioned.

"One of them might be involved with the people after Saratu" Yuugi suggested. "What does it say about the card?" he asked.

"Let me take a read" Saratu replied as she read over the card's information. "Okay, the card's name is Mermaid Queen Aquaria. It's attack points are 2300, and it's defense points are 1900. It's a Level 6, Water, Fish type monster. To summon it, you have to sacrifice a monster with mermaid in it's card name, or a Princess Ningyo. While it's on the field, while the field is Sea, it's owner is allowed to regain 500 life points every time they draw a card" she explained. "That'd be a perfect card for Denierure's deck" she commented.

"Yeah, but isn't there only five cards in the whole game that have mermaid in their card names?" Jyonouchi questioned.

"Maybe more will get released to make summoning this card easier" Yuugi suggested.

(Elsewhere...)

"You're almost done with Denierure?" her boss asked. He was sat in a large chair, facing away from Ayra.

Ayra nodded. "The duelists never notice the handicap that comes as part of the curse. No matter who Denierure duels, even with her own deck, she'll lose. Her Ka is almost ours" he replied.

"Though you went after another, with no knowledge of his Ka. You were supposed to go after Saratu" her boss said.

"I let Denierure choose her opponent. I was hoping she would choose Saratu, but this gives us the chance to lure him to us if he has a strong Ka. I think he became attached after Denierure explained her story" Ayra explained.

"Stronger duelists do tend to have strong Ka. Keep an eye on him Ayra, and go tell Ademu I need him to get Saratu as soon as he can" her boss told her.

Ayra nodded. "Hai, Kimura-sama" she said

(At the City Square...)

Even though no tournament was going on, there were still people around dueling.

One such person sat on a bench, knees pinned to his chest. His hair was shoulder-length, messy, and black with red highlights in back. He was wearing a white undershirt, over which he wore a tight, red blazer. His belt's excess leather hung loose at his side. His jeans were dark blue, and there were dark circles under his brown eyes. He had earphones in his ears, and was listening to music. A Duel Disk was on his arm.

_'He had a powerful dragon, but he didn't handle it too well. Most of his monsters looked to be warriors, I don't see why he's using a card like the Darkness Dragon, if he only has two other dragons in his deck, his opponent handled her's a little better, even though it is a Sea Dragon'_ he thought to himself.

_'Something had to be wrong with her. She could've ended that duel sooner and won, if she used her Levia-Dragon's effect, instead of the Sea Dragon King's, and she'd have still had a hand to work with' _he thought as he got up.

One of the duelists around had just finished a duel, and was looking through the cards he had won. He had forced his opponents to play an Ante duel. He noticed the boy's Duel Disk. "Hey! I challenge you to a duel!" he yelled.

The boy just kept on walking. This annoyed the older duelist. "I just challenged you to a duel, don't just walk away from me!" he yelled at him.

The boy stopped and turned around. "I've been watching you, challenging duelists to Ante duels. What will you wager?" he asked.

The older duelist took out his deck and shuffled through. He held up a card. "My rarest card, King of the End - Demise" he called out.

The boy reached into his pocket, and pulled out a card. "I'll wager this" he said calmly. The card he was showing was Five God Dragon.

"That card is one of two cards that possess the highest base attack points. I'll be glad to take it from you" the duelist replied.

"Never underestimate an opponent. My name is Hanabi Ryuuga" Ryuuga told him as they both readied their duel disks.

"I begin my Turn, Draw!" the duelist called out as he began his turn, and the duel. "I summon a monster face down, Turn End" he said. **(5 Cards In Hand)**

"My Turn, Draw" Ryuuga said, beginning his turn. He smiled a little at his hand before he started playing. "I summon Lord of Dragons, attack mode" he said, laying down the familiar Magic User. **(Dark/Magic User. ATK: 1200/DEF: 1100. Effect: When this card is on the Field, Dragon Type Monsters cannot be targeted with Magic, Trap or other effects.) **"I'll then play the Continuous Magic Card, Future Fusion" he added. **(Continuous Magic. Effect:Choose Fusion materials from your deck for a Fusion monster and send them to Graveyard, and choose a Fusion monster from your Fusion deck. At the 2nd of your Standby Phase after this card is activated, special summon that Fusion monster onto your field (this special summon is treated as Fusion Summon). When this card is not on the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is destroy, destroy this card.). **"I sacrifice two Spear Dragons, two Mirage Dragons, and one Masked Dragon, to summon my Five God Dragon" he explained.

"But you have to wait two turns to summon your monster by the effect of Future Fusion" his opponent told him.

"I don't" Ryuuga replied as he discarded the five dragon cards to his graveyard. He slid another card into his duel disk. "Magic Card, Dragon's Mirror! This card allows me to remove from play, cards from my field and graveyard for a Dragon type fusion monster. So, I don't have to wait to summon my Five God Dragon" he explained as his card activated, and the five dragons fused into the dreaded Five God Dragon. **(Dark/Dragon. ATK: 5000/DEF: 5000. Effect:This card can only be special summoned by Fusion Summon. Use 5 Dragon type monsters as Fusion material to fusion summon this monster. This card does not receive battle damage from monsters with Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, or Dark type.)**

"You've summoned him in a turn!" the duelist exclaimed- Ryuuga smirked slightly.

"Lord of Dragons, attack the face down card!" Ryuuga ordered as the Lord of Dragons prepared a spell, and shot a fireball at the face down card. A Man-Eater Bug was flipped and it ate the Lord of Dragons before it was destroyed.

"One Turn Kill. Five God Dragon! Direct Attack!" Ryuuga called

out as the Five God Dragon powered up it's attack, and hit him. **(LP: 0)**

**(End of Chapter)**


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